Miss World drama refuses to die: Miss Malawi Organisers change tune again as Thandi Chisi row deepens

The Miss Malawi Organisation has changed its explanation for overlooking reigning Miss Malawi Thandi Chisi for Miss World for a third time, abandoning its most recent claim that she lacked international pageant experience and returning to the age issue.

The organisation first said Chisi was ineligible because of her age. After Malawi24 established that the 27-year-old met Miss World’s published eligibility rules, the Miss Malawi team changed its position, telling Malawi24 that the deciding factor was Chisi’s lack of international pageant experience.

Now, the organisation has changed course again. At a press briefing in Lilongwe on Friday, Miss Malawi Organisation director Benedette Mweso blamed the latest twist on what she said was communication from the Miss World Organisation regarding age eligibility.

To support the organisation’s new position, she produced what she described as a communication from the Miss World Organisation stating: “Ensure that all contestants are Nationals and, subject to prior agreement with Miss World Limited, are strictly within the age limit of not less than 17 years of age nor more than 26 (twenty six) years on the Miss World Entry Date in the Relevant Year.”

Malawi24 could not independently verify the authenticity of the document considering the Miss World Organisation’s own published eligibility criteria, which state contestants can be between 17 and 27 years old, and with this year’s contestant list, which includes several 27-year-olds from countries including South Africa, Scotland, Argentina, Chile, Nepal, Guyana and the Bahamas.

The latest explanation follows days of scrutiny triggered after Malawi24 revealed that the organisation’s original age justification did not match Miss World’s published rules.

The report prompted wider media coverage, with several news organisations pursuing the story on the Malawi24 angle. Members of Parliament also joined the debate, with some arguing that Chisi should have represented Malawi at Miss World. A recent Malawi24 poll on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) also found that most respondents settloed for Chisi over First Princess Ireen Navicha as Malawi’s representative at the Miss World.

During the briefing, Mweso also argued that winning the Miss Malawi crown does not automatically entitle the titleholder to represent Malawi at Miss World, saying each international pageant has its own licensing arrangements and selection requirements.

That explanation has also attracted criticism. Analysts, pageant followers and commentators on social media argue that if the Miss Malawi crown has never automatically carried the right to represent Malawi at Miss World, there would have been little reason for the organisation to successively cite Chisi’s age, then her lack of international pageant experience, before returning to the age issue based on documentation the team says it received from the Miss World Organisation.

Commentators further note that the opportunity to represent Malawi at Miss World has historically been one of the principal attractions of competing for the Miss Malawi crown. Previous titleholders have routinely gone on to compete at Miss World, creating a longstanding public expectation that the national winner earns that opportunity.

Others have also questioned why the organisation previously suggested that Chisi could instead be considered for Miss Universe if, as it later argued, her lack of international pageant experience made her unsuitable for the Miss World.

The Miss Malawi Organisation also announced that it is seeking K30 million to fund Navicha’s participation at Miss World who most Malawians on our Facebook and X account believe is the wrong choice.